Blood Pool

“Ah, yes, the shape shifter clan. Have you lived on the island long? I-I never noticed you before, either.”

When he smiled, two delightful dimples appeared on either side of his tempting mouth as if poised for a kiss. “No. I’m fairly new to the island. I received an offer to join the police force. Technically I was transferred here.”

“Oh. Where did you live before moving here?” She couldn’t take her eyes off him. He is the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen.

Bo picked at a blade of grass. “ Colorado.”

“That makes sense since you attended the University of Colorado. Was it a mutual switch in locations?” Feeling her skin radiating heat at the nearness of him, she was a bundle of nerves. It being the holiday for making love, she had preplanned to lose her status as a virgin that night.

At eighteen, she had waited long enough, and her body agreed. It hungered constantly for either blood or lust. If she didn’t find the right mate she would wait, but that seemed to be a moot point now. He was supremely delectable. She licked her lips in anticipation of his kiss. The feeling seemed to be mutual as Bo obviously struggled to focus on the subject of their conversation. He was a vision, an Aztec god come to life. Her marble-like skin contrasted with his deep copper color and shimmered with an opalescent glow. The sight of him caused her body to react on a most basic level. Desire. She wanted desperately for him to press his lips to hers.

The line of his neck was strong, and his rapid pulse beat erratically. Her dress slid over her shoulder, revealing more skin. His gaze traveled down to her ample bosom. He gently touched the locket nestled between her breasts. She could feel his hunger- to possess her-and her desire grew by the minute. Raven wanted to be possessed by him.

His gaze fell to her tiny waist, then to her hips, all visible through her sheer dress, leading to long, slender thighs. He appeared lost in the thought of her secret garden. Beads of sweat dotted his upper lip. Bo leaned in to kiss her, but pulled away. Taking a deep breath, he nervously sighed.

Raven thought he was bored already with her company. Think of something intriguing to say, she berated herself.

He found his tongue. “Yes, it was a mutual move. Someone here wanted to transfer to Colorado. My grandfather has lived on the island for over twenty years. He asked me to see if I could transfer here.” He inched nearer to her. “I moved to be closer to him.”

Thank the Gods she didn’t have to be witty. “Do you like it here?”

His finger traced the pattern on the blanket as he seemingly tried to make a clever remark.

“Yeah, very much,” was all he said.

He wasn’t making this easy. “I’m glad you like it here.” She smiled. Oh, what a conversationalist.

“Me, too.” He leaned over to her and gently kissed her lips. When he met no resistance, his kisses became more urgent. She couldn’t explain it, but she felt that this man belonged with her-to her. Was it the heat between them, or the energy of May Day?

Raven wasn’t sure. The sounds of other couples making love in the dark certainly added to the seductive ambiance. It was the holiday of fertility.

She focused her energy on him. His thoughts were identical to hers. She psychically knew it. Bo wanted to possess her in a way he’d never experienced before. She smiled inwardly, happy to find she wasn’t alone in her feelings.

Raven balked when she read his memories of past lovers. At twenty-six, he’d bedded many women, but she was different to him. With many of them, he had to control his desires in bed, unless he was with another shape shifter. Even the fae he’d been with feared what his true passions could unleash. Her gift was a blessing and a curse as she was presented with a visual montage of his sexual adventures.

Still, he instinctively knew he had to be gentle with Raven. Uh oh, he knows I’m a virgin. She cut the psychic bond.

“Did that answer most of your questions?” he asked.

For a Lamai, Raven turned an admirable shade of apple red.

She answered him with a kiss. Her arms wrapped around him as she pressed closer, her breasts rubbing against his chest. The fabric’s sheer quality left nothing to his imagination. He cupped her breast, and she let out a lusty moan. Her eyes, icy silver now, gazed into his golden ones. Her hunger was taking control.

Kneeling before him, she pulled down the top of her dress. His eyes drank in her innocence, and in an instant he kissed her throat. She held his neck close, feeling the pulsing of his arteries. The nearness of him sent her reeling with desire.

He laid her down upon the blanket, raised her skirt and removed her panties. His strong hands caressed her. If she didn’t know better, she’d swear he had bewitched her. Bo had a magick all his own. Sex appeal.

All magickal species enjoyed sex. Bo was no exception, but Raven psychically felt new emotions flooding his mind and heart. He seemed to want to protect her. As if he wanted her to be his mate-he was easy for her to read-something he had never before considered about another woman.

She radiated freshness and purity, though at that moment her thoughts were filled with many things, none of which were pure.

Raven writhed underneath him.

He leaned over her. The weight of his body sent sparks of heat through hers. “The desire between blood and lust is strong,” he whispered. Her hands stroked across his back, igniting a fierce fire.

“I don’t…I mean…I’m not like this, really. There’s something about you-like I’ve known you forever,” she whispered.

“Shh…it’s okay, I feel it, too.”

She reached for the waistband of his pants, unsnapping them, freeing him of the hindrance of the material. Raising her hips, she attempted to guide him inside her. He murmured words in a foreign language as he entered her warmth. A groan of satisfaction passed his lips.

He suddenly stopped. “You…you’ve never…you are a virgin.”

Bo must have seen the pain on her face. He was a large man, and she looked at him with wonder. He smiled as if to calm her for fear she’d run off into the woods and live out her days as a spinster Lamai.

She held onto him when he tried to pull out. “No, please. I want you… Don’t stop,” she whispered.

“Are you certain? I-I don’t want to hurt you, physically or emotionally.” He buried his head in her hair and kissed her neck. “Hmm, but I do want you so very much…” By the end of this night, he was going to have her. And she was going to let him.

“I want you, too,” she murmured.

He took his time as he gently eased his way inside of her. “Tell me if I’m hurting you…”

Then the world around them dimmed, and they were lost in each other’s energy. Her moans of slight pain turned to pleasure and filled the night air as they made love. Although she’d just met Bo, she felt she had known him for eons.

He nipped at her breasts and neck, gently breaking the skin and drinking her blood. She let him. She would let him do whatever he pleased. She wanted him to explore her.

As he rocked within her, he held back his long black hair, exposing his neck. “Taste,” he offered. His eyes flashed to golden orbs.

“Are you sure?” Raven wondered if he knew that for her kind this was an act of marking a mate.

“Oh, yeah,” he groaned.

She moaned in the throes of an orgasm.

The moment her teeth dug into his flesh, he let out an ear-piercing howl as he came inside of her. Worlds collided between shifter and Lamai, man and woman, and neither would ever be the same.

They lay in each other’s arms, staring at the stars, catching their breath.

“I’d say we did our part to welcome spring and celebrate the season of mating,” he mused then sighed with the sheer contentment of satisfaction.

Talk about a dose of reality. “Yes. I suppose we did. I-I’d better go,” she said, beginning to dress while pulling the dried grass out of her hair. She cursed herself for thinking this was anything more to him than a ritual. That he felt the same emotions she did. How stupid could I be?

Bo’s eyes widened as he noticed the blood on her thigh. He gently touched between her legs. There on his fingers was her blood. He wiped it on newly sprouting wildflowers.

“A gift to the Earth Mother,” he said with a wink.

She could feel her ire growing. “Yes. It was my pleasure to give up my virginity to…the Earth Mother,” she said between gritted teeth.

Raven slid into her bra and panties and pulled on her wrinkled dress. Any idiot could see this man was trouble. Too good looking, with a body to shame the gods and enough confidence for ten men. Oh, Raven, you fool.

“Nice to meet you, Bo. Good night,” she curtly said. She couldn’t help but feel insulted by his casual reaction to her lost virginity. The thought that she may have simply been one of many he’d had sex with that night turned her frosty cold. To imagine she gave him her most precious gift. What was she thinking? Obviously, she wasn’t thinking, in the throes of passion.

His jaw dropped open. “Wait…don’t go. The night’s still young.”

This man was at a loss for words. Okay, confidence level dropped to five men. His eyes betrayed his disbelief that the night would end so quickly.

He reached for her. “Please don’t go. There’s so much more I want to know about you. We’ve only just begun…”

Raven cut him off. “I’m sure there are many other young maidens who would love to share your blanket.” She turned and walked away, leaving Bo speechless and fumbling to dress.

What she would not know, until years later, was that he would spend the rest of that night-and the weeks that followed-looking for her.

Chapter Nine

Philippe Laroque sensed the Lamai’s energy in the air as he tied his boat to the dock. He silently cursed the day he promised his daughter he wouldn’t hurt Raven Strigoi. It was too late; he’d given his daughter his word.

He feared the half-breed had come for his daughter. If she did, all bets were off. He would do whatever was necessary to get Jade back.

He rushed to the back of the house, past the sliding doors, punching in the code for the alarm before it sounded. It was disarmed. Checking each room, he called out to his daughter, but there was only silence.